Clouds of Sils Maria is the latest filmfromwriter-director Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours). The film starsJulietteBinoche as an acclaimed actress revisiting the play which helped tolaunch heracting career to stardom decades before. Produced by Charles Gillibert (OnThe Road, Certified Copy), Clouds of Sils Maria isan arthouse drama about being an actress in an industry obsessedwith youth.

Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is a highlysuccessfulactress who has been well regarded for her performances for decades.She isgiven an offer to star in a new production of a play: one which helpedtolaunch her acting career when she was young. Yet Maria soon discoversthat shewill be playing opposite of...Read the entire review

The Fabulous Baker Boys is a romantic dramafromwriter-director Steven Kloves (screenwriter of the Harry Potterfilm series).The film marked the directorial debut of Kloves. It is from producersMarkRosenberg (Major League) and Paula Weinstein (Blood Diamond)andexecutive producer Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Tootsie).

The story of the film is centered upon a pair ofbrothers (andwas played by real-life brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges) whohave spentdecades working as lounge pianists. They go by the name "The FabulousBaker Boys" and have made a good enough living for themselves with noother jobs for decades. They perform beautiful music with their pianosand arewell re...Read the entire review

The Longest Ride is the latest film basedupon thework of acclaimed writer Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, SafeHaven,The Best of Me). It is based on Sparks bestselling novel. Withdirectionby George Tillman Jr. (Faster). Starring Britt Robertson, ScottEastwood,Oona Chaplin, and Alan Alda, The Longest Ride was produced byMartyBowen, Wyck Godfrey, Theresa Park, and Nicholas Sparks.

The story focuses on two couples journeys as theyfall in love:one told in the present and one through flashbacks. The first couple ofthestory is that of Sophia (Britt Robertson) and Luke (Scott Eastwood).Sophia isa college student trying to get into a prestigious art job: she is amassivelover of the arts...Read the entire review

5 Flights Up is a romantic-drama film basedupon anovel written by Jill Ciment. The film was produced by Curtis Burch,MorganFreeman, Lori McCreary, Tracy Mercer, and Charlie Peters. The filmstars MorganFreeman and Diane Keaton as Ruth and Alex Carver. It was directed byRichardLoncraine (Firewall, Wimbledon).

The story of 5 Flights Up revolves aroundthe eventssurrounding Alex (Morgan Freeman) and Ruth (Diane Keaton). They are anagingcouple who has decided they should move out of their beloved Brooklyn,NYapartment and find a different apartment with an elevator they can use.Theircurrent apartment only has stairs and they have to go up five flightsof them.

The Tall Blonde Man With One Black Shoe isa Frenchcomedy farce from director Yves Robert (My Father's Glory, MyMother's Castle). The film was produced by Alain Poire (Jean deFlorette,Manon of the Spring) and director Yves Robert. Robert wrote thescriptwith screenwriter Francis Veber (The Birdcage, The DinnerGame).

The story of the film focuses on Francois Perrin(PierreRichard), an acclaimed violinist who stumbles into a mad-cap chaseinvolvingthe French government. The superspy French elite receivebad-information andare on the chase to take-down Perrin, who is believed to be a massivethreat tothe country. Using their top forces, they go after Perri...Read the entire review

Wanna Be The Strongest in the World is awrestlinganime series based upon a manga created by ESE and Kiyohito Natsuki.The serieswas produced and animated by Studio Arms. &nbsp;Theseries was licensed by FunimationEntertainment for the US release.

The series setup focuses on a girl named Sakurawho is partof a pop-music group called Sweet Diva. Sakura is the lead vocalist ofthemusic group. The group is successful and has a lot of fans. The musicgroupisn't the only thing which Sakura becomes a part of though as she willeventuallygo on to become a member of a pro wrestling team.

Hyperdimension Neptunia is an animatedseriesspin-off creation based upon the massively popular video-game franchiseby thesame name. The series is by animation studio David Production (JoJo'sBizarre Adventure &amp; Soul Eater) and it is directed byMasahiroMukai (Puella Magi Madoka Magica).

The series is like a video-game because it isbased on avideo-game. The series franchise takes place inside a mythicalvideo-game landknown as the Gamindustri World. Within this video-game environment, thecharacters of Neptune (the leader of the goddesses) and others mustundergotransformers to more powerful versions of themselves with differentappearances,battling it out against bad monsters, powe...Read the entire review

A Lull in the Sea is a 2013 anime serieswhich wasproduced by anime studio P.A. Works (Another, Angel Beats!).Theseries is set in a genre-bending sci-fi world in which people actuallyliveinside of the ocean (as well as on the land above). There aresea-people whocan breathe underwater and they live in homes under the sea, go toschool, and worshipa sea-god.

In the story, people once all lived in the ocean.The seaused to be the main home of everyone. Then humans split up and somewent to liveon the land while others stayed back underwater. There is an oldprophecy thatpredicts the end of the world sometime in the distant future, socharactersmust hibernate to survive and pray to the sea god with a festi...Read the entire review

Based on the successful mangaseries created by Hiro Mashima, Fairy Tail beganairing in 2009 in Japanand became one of the most successful anime series on television. Ithas becomea long running success and continues to be a fan-favorite series foritsquality blend of adventure, sci-fi, and fantasy. The series alsocontains anabundance of comedy and finds a good balance with the action.

The premise of the series revolvesaround the Fairy Tail guild: a guildmade up of some of the world's most powerful wizards. These wizardshave theirown unique skills and abilities. They make up a family of-sorts and thememberswork on various missions to save the world an...Read the entire review

The Black Stallion is a 1979 film executiveproducedby Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather). The film was thefeature debutfor director Carroll Ballard (Fly Away Home, Duma), whowashand-picked for the project from Coppola (who was a UCLA classmate).The film versionis adapted from the novel by Walter Farley.

The story of The Black Stallion focuses ona youngboy named Alec Ramsey (Kelly Reno). The boy is awed and amazed by anArabianblack stallion horse which is on a boat with him and his father (HoytAxton). &nbsp;The boat is struck by lightningduring amassive storm while out at sea. It sinks in the ocean and Alec's fatherdoesn'tsurvive the perilous storm.

Here Is Your Life is the feature-film debutbyacclaimed filmmaker Jan Troell (Everlasting Moments). The filmis basedupon a semi-autobiographical work which was written by the acclaimedNobelPrize winning author Eyvind Johnson. Produced by co-screenwriter BengtForslund,the film is a coming of age story set in Sweden and during the firstWorld War.It explores the story of Olof Persson (Eddie Axberg) as he journeysthroughlife and becomes a young man. &nbsp;

One thing that immediately separates Here IsYour Life froma typical coming-of-age film is that the story focuses largely on theworkexperiences of Olof Persson. From the beginning the story, Troell showsOlofbeginning manual-l...Read the entire review

A John Williams Celebration was the openingnightconcert for the 2014/15 Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Theorchestra wasconducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The concert performance was held at thebeautifulWalt Disney Concert Hall. The performance is of selections from famedfilmcomposer John Williams. The selected pieces come from the cinematicclassics Williamscomposed for director Steven Spielberg and Star Wars to theOlympics anda special-piece written for the Walt Disney Concert Hall entitled Soundings.

The concert begins with a theme he composed forthe Olympics.It's a bold, exciting, and adventurous theme with a triumphant andlivelysound. The next piece is Soundings. This experime...Read the entire review

While We're Young is thelatest film from acclaimed writer-director Noah Baumbach (The Squidand TheWhale, Frances Ha). It reunites the filmmaker with star BenStiller(who last worked with him on 2010's Greenberg). The film wasproduced by Noah Baumbach with Scott Rudin (The Grand Budapest Hotel,The SocialNetwork) and was distributed by A24 films.

The story of While We're Young focuses on adocumentary filmmakernamed Josh (Ben Stiller). Josh is trying to finish making along-in-fruitionnew documentary film that he has been filming and editing acrossseveral years.Josh is married to Cornelia (Naomi Watts) and both have been tryingunsuccessfully to have a child together for yea...Read the entire review

Mississippi Mermaid is a Frenchfilm-noir fromacclaimed filmmaker Fran&ccedil;ois Truffaut(Jules and Jim,The 400 Blows, Day For Night).It was adapted for the screen from the novel Waltz intoDarkness, which was written by Cornell Woolrich. Truffautwrote the screenplay (along with additional script contributions byMichelBouquet) and directed the film. It was produced by Marcel Berbert (Jean de Florette, The Last Metro).

.hack//Roots is the third installment inthelong-running .hack franchise which has been made up of manga,video-games, and anime. The series is produced by Fukashi Azuma (ShamanKing),Ken Iyadomi (Ghost in the Shell),Koji Morimoto(.hack//Sign),Takayasu Shimizu (Reservoir Chronicle: Tsubasa, .hack//Sign),DianeCage, and Nobuo Masuda.The series was created to serve as aprecursorto the .hack//G.U. video games.

While .hack//Legend of the Twilight wasmore of ashort-run spin-off set in the same universe, .hack//Roots seemsto workmore like a direct-sequel to the original .hack//Sign production.Itbrings new characters to The Wor...Read the entire review

.hack// Legend of the Twilight is thesecond installment in the long-running .hack&nbsp; franchisewhich has had aseries of acclaimed anime productions,video games, and mangapublications. This incarnation is animated from animation powerhousestudio Bee Train (Medabots, Arc the Lad) and was produced byRyo Shimamura (Captain Kuppa DesertPirate), Kazunori Takagi (SpiderRaiders), and Koji Morimoto (DiGi Charat Nyo). It is based upon the manga written by TatsuyaHamazaki and illustrated by Rei Izumi which was origin...Read the entire review

.hack//Sign is the acclaimed anime seriesthatstarted the massively popular anime franchise (which has continued toexistwith several other connected series). The saga of .hack is onewhich hasbeen explored in various anime series, video games, and mangapublications. Itcontinues to be a popular series amongst anime fans to this day.Funimation nowpresents &nbsp;.hack//Sign and other .hackseries on DVD in North America again (following a out-of-printperiod)through their license rescue of the franchise.

The main character of the story is Tsukasa, who isawavemaster playing inside the virtual reality game environment which isknownas The World. This massive multiplayer online role-p...Read the entire review

Digimon Fusion is the sixth series in thelong-running Digimon franchise. The saga featured three seasonarcs. Aswith other Digimon seasons, Digimon Fusion featuresanimationfrom studio powerhouse Toei Animation. Licensed for US distribution bySaban, theseries offers audiences a different storytelling approach to other Digimoncreations as it combines the main conceptual idea of Digimon withsomething much more akin to the Transformers saga. &nbsp;

What's the concept of this incarnation? In anutshell, Digimonmeets Transformers sums it up. The focus is no longer onDigimonevolving (like on Pokemon) but rather on Digimon being ca...Read the entire review

Darker than Black is an acclaimed animetelevisionseries from writer/directorTensai Okamura (Wolf's Rain).Theseries is animated by studio Bones. The original series aired in 2007with afollow-up entitled Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteorarriving in 2009. A short OVA production followed in 2010. Funimation'sBlu-ray/DVD combo pack release contains both the Darker than Black:Geminiof the Meteor sequel and the short OVA production.

The concept of the series focuses on mysteriousbeings knownas Contractors. The lead of the series is a contractor and is known asthe Black Reaper.A contractor is someone with special abilities which are connected andderivedfrom the "Heaven's Gate" inc...Read the entire review

Mississippi Burning is a dramatic-thrillerfrom 1988.The film stars Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, and Frances McDormand. Thestory ofthe film is based in part on the FBI case that surrounded three civilrightsindividuals who were murdered in Mississippi in 1964. This dramaticfilm ispart-history and part-fictional account of these events.

The foundation of the film is loosely based uponthe workingpartnership between John Proctor and Joseph Sullivan, who inspired theFBIcharacters central to this film: Gene Hackman as Agent Rupert AndersonandWillem Dafoe as Agent Alan Ward. Though these characters becamefictionalizedfor the sake of dramatization in the film the central idea of the storyunfolding in Mississippi Bu...Read the entire review

American Buffalo is based upon thesuccessful playwritten by acclaimed writer/director David Mamet. The 1996 film versionwasproduced by Gregory Mosher (who directed the theatrical version whichprecedesthe film). The film stars Dustin Hoffmann, Dennis Franz, and SeanNelson. Thisadaptation was directed by Michael Corrente(OutsideProvidence, AShot At Glory).

The story is actually pretty simple. The setup ofthe storyintroduces the three characters of this story: Teach (Dustin Hoffmann),Don(Dennis Franz), and Bob (Sean Nelson). Don owns and operates a lowlyjunk-shoplocated in a crummy and rundown neighborhood. Teach works alongside himbutmainly seems to go off on tangents. Bob is a young man from thenei...Read the entire review

Tokyo Ravens is a fantasy anime series fromanimationstudio 8-Bit. The series originated as a series of Japanese lightnovels whichwere written by K?hei Azano and featured illustrations composed bySumihei. Theseries revolves around the fantasy world of onmyouji, who are beingscapable ofconnecting spirit power and who can battle negative spirits who causeproblemswithin their world. It is up to the onmyouji to help keep the peacefulbalance.

The central character of the series isTsuchimikado Harutora,who at the start of the series isn't aware of even having spiritualenergy towork with. The path to being a onmyouji is a long one with a lot oftraining. Theroad ahead of Harutora will be a challenge. Thus...Read the entire review

]]> American Experience: Last Days in VietnamDVD Videohttp://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=68664
Thu, 14 May 2015 04:31:16 PDTHighly Recommended

Last Days in Vietnam DVD Review

Last Days in Vietnam is a documentary filmfromdirector Rory Kennedy (Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Ethel) that focuseson someof the events which occurred during the final weeks of the Vietnam War.Thedocumentary explores stories shared by several individuals withfirst-handaccounts of how the war came to an end and what happened in the processto getthere by utilizing interviews and archival footage.

The documentary featuring interviews with HenryKissinger,Stuart Herrington, Juan Valdez, Frank Snepp, and others. The inclusionofarchival footage also shows material with Richard Nixon and GrahamMartin, whowas the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam. The interviews help topresentdetailed accounts of events that happened to...Read the entire review

TeenTitans Go! is acomedic and fun series that surrounds the Teen Titans characters Robin,Cyborg,Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy. This isn't a series like the former TeenTitans, though. This time aroundit's all about the comedic hijinks and about delivering the laughs.Thepremiseof the series is to follow what the Teen Titans do when they aren'tbusy tryingto save the world... so instead of them going to rescue someone orfightingbaddies this series is pretty much about the characters hanging out andthecomedy that ensues. It delivers a lot of laughs but it doesn't exactlywork tounfold any serious plot-lines or stories. Read the entire review

Noir(2001)is a unique anime series that tells thestory of Mireille and Kirika, two assassins who "work"internationally on jobs assigned to them that involve finding andkillingcriminals involved in syndicates. The pair goes by the codename Noir whichrefers to the most powerful assassin around. The duo is alsomysterio...Read the entire review

Antarctica: A Year on Ice is not adocumentary film aboutthe place itself as much as it is about the people who live inAntarctica andhow they cope with and deal with living out day-to-day lives in anisolated andunfamiliar territory that most people never experience. With amazingphotography and a series of interviews with people who live inAntarctica, thedocumentary explores an element of Antarctica not commonly seen indocumentaryproductions.

The film was produced, photographed, and directedby nature-photographerAnthony Powell, who spent 10 years turning his project into adocumentary. This film is unlike most other Antarcticadocumentaries made before as everything about this effort is gearedmoret...Read the entire review

Teen Titans Go! is one of CartoonNetwork's recentsuccesses. The animated program is another fun entry in the DC AnimatedUniverse (DCAU) and expands on the network's love of DC lore. Itsgloriousanimated charm comes from having a comedy sketch-sitcom style seriesfeaturingthe same characters of the Teen Titans comic-book universe. Eachepisode is acomedy short with the characters Robin,Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy.

The series followsthe characters after they have defeated the bad-guys and are trying tojusthang out and call it a day. The story essentially just focuses on themhangingout, goofing off, and having fun. Occasionally, the characters still goonmissi...Read the entire review

Doris Day is a Hollywood legend. As a beloved andfan-favorite actress in the Hollywood studio system she managed tobring aunique personality, style, charisma, and talent to everything she wasinvolvedin. Her decidedly sweet nature on-screen helped to make her an"every-girl" icon who captured the imagination of moviegoers. A Dayfilm was something usually comedic, fun, and filled with song anddance. Agreat deal of this was because of the star "it" factor which shebrought to the table with these films. Her likeability was undeniable.

Joining Day is an array of otherHollywood greats working with the WB studio system. (Many actors of thetimewere under contractual obligation to appear in several productions for...Read the entire review

The Remains of the Day is a film based onthe novelwritten by Kazuo Ishiguro. It is one of the acclaimed collaborations ofproducerIsmail Merchant and director James Ivory. The film was also produced byMikeNichols. It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards (but won none) yet isrightfullyconsidered amongst the best Merchant-Ivory productions. The filmsucceeds throughits intelligent storytelling as it examines elements of WWII and adeeply sad romanticstoryline with equal tenacity.

The story of the film takes place primarily aroundWWII andfollows the life and events of the butler James Stevens (AnthonyHopkins), whoworks for Lord Darlington (James Fox). Stevens deals with hissense of loyalty and dedication to his w...Read the entire review

April Love (1957) is a sweet-naturedromanticmusical. The film features the beautiful title song (which wasnominated for anOscar) and it was directed by Henry Levin (Journey tothe Center of the Earth). It stars Pat Boone and Shirley Jones. Themusicalshould appeal to fans of beautifully mounted productions.

The story of the film focuses on Nick Conover (PatBoone). He comes to live with relatives on a farm following terms madefor him followinghis involvement in a car robbery with those he knew from his city-life.Now living in asmall farm environment with Aunt Henrietta (Jeanette Nolan) and UncleJed(Arthur O'Connell) looking after him, Conover soon comes to learn aboutthe nice qualities of asmall-town life.

The Fantasticks is one of the mostsuccessfulmusicals ever made in theater history with a stunning run of 17,162 performances. The musical brokerecords and made an important historical mark in theater. The filmadapts the musicaland transitions the small setting the theatrical production had to adecidedly largerproduction canvas.

The film was met withpoor test audience responses and indifference. The studio supporthalted. Thefilm was ultimately shelved for five years and then it received only asmalltheatrical run in 2000. Today, TheFantasticks (1995) has some fans and has finally received a releasecontaining both the original cut and the theatrical ver...Read the entire review

The Power Rangers franchise has been oneof the most long-runningseries in television history. With various incarnations and storylinesdeveloped over the years, the series continues on and still has alegion offans (young and old). What some fans might not be as aware of is thattheoriginal Power Rangers series would never have been developedhad it notbeen for a certain Japanese television series: the Super Sentai seasonentitledZyuranger.

Haim Saban, who is the producer of PowerRangers,createdthe series through the utilization of the original Japanese programwhichinspiredit. He saw this series and thought it would be a successful show in theUnitedStates and wa...Read the entire review

The Bounty is a British historical dramaproduced in1984. This cinematic adaptation is based upon the historical account ofthemutiny on the bounty as written about in the book Captain Bligh andMr.Christian, which was written by Richard Hough in 1972. Directed byRogerDonaldson (The World's Fastest Indian, Dante's Peak, TheNovember Man), this take on historical events explores a newcinematic approachto telling the tale.

The story in the film focuses upon how LieutenantWilliamBligh (Anthony Hopkins) lost his control over the ship on which heserved asCaptain. Bligh is in British court and explaining events to AdmiralHood(Laurence Olivier). As he recounts the story, Blight explains how hisfriend...Read the entire review

The Rewrite is the latest film fromwriter-directorMarc Lawrence (Music and Lyrics, Two Weeks Notice). Itagainreunites the filmmaker with actor Hugh Grant. The film is one ofLawrence'smost thoughtful and moving efforts. Indeed, The Rewrite mayactually bethe crowning achievement of Lawrence's filmmaking career to date.

Keith Michaels (Hugh Grant) used to be one ofHollywood'sgo-to screenwriters. He made a successful screenplay which became thefilmParadise Misplaced and ultimately won him a Oscar for Best OriginalScreenplay.Yet that was so many years ago. Keith now has trouble finding anyscript work(even re-writes) after a string of unsuccessful films and he's havingtroublepaying the bills. His agent...Read the entire review

Fairy Tail isa popular action-adventure-comedy series which follows a group ofwizards whoare all a part of the renowned Fairy Tail guild. These wizards work onvarious missions for thenon-magic folkof the world. Additionally, these talentedwizards work together to face enemy guilds(thetype who use their magic without a positive approach), and prepare newskillsas they train to become Sclass wizards (the top ranking of guildmembersacross the world). From saving the day to being hilarious, thesewizards are afamilial bunch that represent the...Read the entire review
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